coble

American  

[koh-buhl] / ˈkoʊ bəl /

noun

1. a flat-bottomed fishing boat with a lugsail, used mainly in northern England and Scotland for salmon.

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coble British  

/ ˈkəʊbəl, ˈkɒbəl /

noun

1. a small single-masted flat-bottomed fishing boat

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Etymology

Origin of coble

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English cobel; probably of Celtic origin (compare Welsh ceubal, ceubol “skiff, ferryboat”), ultimately from Late Latin caupulus, caupilus “small sailing vessel with a high prow”

Example Sentences

This, after considerable difficulty, William Darling succeeded in doing, when immediately Grace rowed off in the coble, to prevent it being dashed to pieces.

From A Yacht Voyage Round England by Kingston, William Henry Giles

“If it were not too late,” I cried with indignation, “I would take the coble and go out to warn them.”

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI by Stevenson, Robert Louis

One wild morning a coble beat into our cove.

From The Romance of the Coast by Runciman, James

"Gae tell my father and my mother, It was naebody did me this ill; I was a-going my ain errands,35 Lost at the coble o' bonnie Cargill."

From English and Scottish Ballads (volume 3 of 8) by Various

Through the foaming seas, which threatened every moment to overwhelm the little coble, they pulled off to the wreck.

From A Yacht Voyage Round England by Kingston, William Henry Giles